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W&M's Golden Named CAA Player of Year

from press release

TOWSON, Md. - The William and Mary lacrosse team made
history at the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association awards banquet on
Wednesday evening in Towson, Md., as the Tribe became the first
team in league history to garner all three of the conference's top
individual player honors in the same season. Senior midfielder
Grace Golden was chosen as the player of the year, while senior
defender Sarah Jonson was selected as the defender of the year and
freshman attacker Taelor Salmon was honored as the rookie of the
year.

Golden and Jonson also garnered first-team all-conference
distinction, while Salmon was named to the all-rookie team.
Additionally, senior attacker Ashley Holofcener and senior
midfielder Molly Wannen were selected to the all-league second
team, while redshirt freshman midfielder Katie Stillwell earned
all-rookie team accolades. All of the postseason honors were
selected by a vote of the league's eight head coaches.

One of the most decorated players in league history, Golden
becomes just the third player in the conference's existence to earn
first-team All-CAA honors four times. Additionally, she becomes the
fourth player in school history to garner the league's player of
the year accolade.

A Tewaarton Award nominee, Golden led the conference in goals
per game (3.3), points per game (3.9), draw controls per game
(3.1), caused turnovers per game (2.8) and game-winning goals (5),
while she also ranked fifth in ground balls per game. Additionally,
her caused turnovers average ranked second nationally, while her
goals average ranked 12th.

En route to achieving the lofty rankings, Golden broke the
program's single-season caused turnovers record (44) and needs just
three more draw controls to eclipse the single-season mark of 52
established by Wannen last spring. Golden finished the regular
season with 12 hat tricks and was honored as the CAA Player of the
Week twice (2/28, 4/18). One of her best efforts came in the win
against Richmond when she equaled a single-game school record with
eight goals (on nine shots) with an assist.

Golden owns W&M's record for career draw controls (151),
while she ranks second in career points (227) and goals (185).
Additionally, she ranks among the program's all-time top 10 in
assists (42), ground balls (176) and caused turnovers (121).

One of the nation's top defenders, Jonson earned her
second-consecutive defensive player of the year award and becomes
just the third player in league history to garner the distinction
multiple times. Additionally, she is the second W&M player to
be chosen as the CAA's top defensive player, as Kim Fabel was
honored in 2001.

A two-time Tewaarton Award nominee, Jonson is a three-time
All-CAA selection and a two-time first-team choice. The Dallas,
Texas native ranks fifth nationally in caused turnovers per game
(2.4), while she ranks second in the CAA in draw controls per game
(2.9) and caused turnovers per game and fourth in ground balls per
game (2.6). Jonson's 46 draw controls ranks tied for third on
W&M's single-season list, while her 38 caused turnovers is
sixth. Highlighting her list of impressive performances this season
was her effort in the win against Virginia Tech when she set a
single-game school record with nine caused turnovers. Following the
contest, she was honored as the CAA Player of the Week and named to
the Synapse Sports National Honor Roll.

Perhaps the greatest defender in the program's history, Jonson
owns the school record for career caused turnovers (134) and ranks
third in draw controls (122) and sixth in ground balls (167).

Salmon established herself as the CAA's top freshman this season
and became the program's third rookie of the year honoree. A
three-time conference rookie of the week selection, the Fort
Washington, Md., native finished the season with 24 points on 20
goals and four assists. Additionally, she contributed 12 ground
balls and six caused turnovers.

Salmon posted a number of impressive performances, highlighted
with hat tricks in wins against Boston University (4), Old Dominion
(4) and Drexel (3) as well as multi-goal efforts against James
Madison, Penn State and Navy. She also came up big in the triple
overtime victory at Delaware when she scored the game-winning
goal.

One of the CAA's top attackers throughout her career, Holofcener
is a two-time all-conference selection who garnered second-team
honors this year. The Baltimore, Md., native leads the CAA with 1.6
assists per game, while she ranks third in the league with 3.33
points per game. Additionally, her 24 assists ranks tied for fifth
on the program's single-season list.

Holofcener recorded at least three points in nine games this
season, while she totaled six or more points four times.
Highlighting those impressive performances was an eight-point
effort in the win at Old Dominion that earned her CAA Player of the
Week accolades.

Holofcener owns the school record for career assists (101),
while she ranks third all-time at the College with 208 points.

Wannen earned second-team all-conference honors for the
third-straight year after another impressive season. With the
honor, she joins current teammates Golden and Jonson as one of just
nine players in the program's history to garnered first or
second-team all-conference distinction three or more times.

With 35 draw controls this spring, she ranks just outside the
program's single-season top-10 list. Additionally, the Silver
Spring, Md., native has totaled 11 points on 10 goals and an assist
to go with 21 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. Wannen totaled
multiple draw controls in nine contests, including four of seven
conference games. Her best performance came in the win at ODU when
she set a single-game school record with nine draw controls.

Wannen ranks second on W&M's career draw controls list (133)
and is sixth on the caused turnovers list (51). Additionally, she
owns the program's single-season draw controls record of 52 that
she established last spring.

After missing the entire 2010 season with an injury, Stillwell
has made a significant impact during her redshirt freshman season.
A starter in 13 games, she finished the regular season with 17 draw
controls, 14 ground balls, six caused turnovers and a goal.

One of Stillwell's best performances came in the win against
Hofstra when she totaled three ground balls, three caused turnovers
and a draw control. Additionally, she registered four draw controls
in the victory against Boston University and three draw controls in
the triple overtime triumph against Delaware.

With Salmon and Stillwell's honors, W&M has had at least one
player earn all-rookie team status in each of the last five
seasons.

The third-seeded Tribe will begin its quest for the CAA
Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament when it
squares off against second-seeded and 11th-ranked James Madison in
the opening round at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md., on
Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Top-seeded host Towson will take on
fourth-seeded Drexel in the other semifinal game at 5 p.m. The
winners will then meet in the championship game on Saturday at 5
p.m.